Various types of vehicles, such as jet airplanes, helicopters, tanks or boats utilize turbine engines as a primary power source for locomotion. Turbine engines may include a compressor section, in which inlet air is compressed, followed by a combustor section in which fuel is combusted with the compressed air to generate exhaust gas. The exhaust gas is then directed to a turbine section, where energy is extracted from the exhaust gas. The compressor section and the turbine typically include multiple disks connected to a common bearing and/or shaft.
Turbine engines that operate in dusty, dirty and/or partially submerged environments may experience severe erosion or other damage, especially of the compressor and turbine components. This is commonly referred to as foreign object damage (FOD). In addition to causing erosion of compressor and turbine blades, vanes and shrouds, foreign objects, such as sand and dust, can clog turbine cooling passages and blade attachments. Water ingestion may cause corrosion of turbine engine components and may extinguish the combustion process. In a typical engine design, the compressor may experience foreign object damage (FOD) and/or water ingestion damage due to a poor seal design between an engine inlet and a vehicle air plenum/filtration system. Current seals include a convoluted molded rubber component that interfaces with the engine with an interference, or press, fit. More specifically, the current seal design requires that the parts be pushed together, rather than by other means of fastening, often resulting in an inadequate seal. In addition, the inability to obtain an adequate seal between the engine and vehicle filtration system is exacerbated by being a blind assembly and during the connection process the engine comes in at an angle. Because of the interference fit, alignment, and blind access, the seal is often not properly engaged. This improper engagement results in a gap between the engine and the air filtration system which allows water and/or debris to enter the engine during operation that may result in a FOD or water ingestion event.
Hence, there is a need for a sealing assembly between an engine inlet and a vehicle filtration system that minimizes the entrance of any foreign objects and/or water into the engine. In addition, there is a need for a sealing assembly that provides a robust positive seal that during assembly can be properly aligned and engaged during a blind assembly process.